


Bad-Silly

by JohnHamishHolmes



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Cute, Fawnlock, Fluff, Gen, Jawn, Kidlock, Shmoop, Vague descriptions of violence, exchangelock au, fawnlock loves john, john being patient, silly fawnlock, tiny amounts of angst, vague descriptions of depression
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-12
Updated: 2014-07-12
Packaged: 2018-02-08 13:52:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1943622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JohnHamishHolmes/pseuds/JohnHamishHolmes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Child Fawnlock loves his John, but wonders why he has a hurt shoulder and leg. Written for the Exchangelock AU exchange for Kindergartencop</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bad-Silly

**Author's Note:**

> AN: this is a Fawnlock fic, but I've made a few minor changes to the standard Fawnlock AU. The 2 big things are that Fawnlock is still a little fawn, more of a child-aged fawn rather than the usual adult. I would say he is around the age of 4-5, very curious and playful. The other change is that Lestrade is a human who has a cottage next to John's. It just made a bit more sense for the plot to have another human nearby. Also, Greg is brilliant. It is quite innocent and really fluffy, although some of it is a little angsty, but it is hidden by the fluff, honestly. Also, it does involve John describing getting injured, but it is vague and non-graphic. I hope you enjoy it.
> 
> Huge thank you to TheBetaService for reading over it and fixing my mistakes. Also, a big thanks to everyone at exchangelock for putting together this awesome exchange!

Bad-Silly

 

Fawnlock has only met a few humans in his short life, but he knows John is his favourite. There are so many wonderful things about John. He has soft hair and warm jumpers, he teaches Fawnlock about all kinds of wonderful things, he makes him feel better when he is hurt and he loves to play and be silly. When Fawnlock is moody, frustrated or just a little bored, John will come up with a silly game to play. Sometimes, they build forts out of blankets and pillows and John will lie down and hold Fawnlock close and they will fall asleep. Sometimes he gives Fawnlock a glass of milk and a straw and he can blow bubbles, which is great fun. Other times, he will give Fawnlock a good tickle, letting the fawn's short legs kick out in every direction. Yes, Fawnlock loves his John. He loves him very much. But Fawnlock does not love how John keeps secrets from him. 

You see, John refuses to tell Fawnlock about why he doesn't want to play on rainy days or why he rubs at his shoulder and knee sometimes. Why when he's tired, he walks with stiff legs and uneven steps. Fawnlock asks as best he can, but either Johnn doesn't understand or he doesn't want to share with his friend.  
"Why legs hurt?" He questioned last Friday afternoon, when John did not want to come out into the garden to see Fawnlock's newly collected harvest of flowers and berries. He told Fawnlock that his legs were sore and he did not feel like getting up.  
"Why legs hurt?" Fawnlock asked again, feeling very concerned. Pain was bad. He knew that from his own experiences. He didn't want John to feel it. He scampered into the house and started butting his head along John's knees. "Why? Why hurt? Jawn?"  
The retired soldier ran his hands through Fawnlock's hair (another thing he loved!) and told him not to fret.  
"Jaaaawwwwn! Why?" He said again, getting more desperate.But John didn't give him an answer. 

He didn't give an answer a few days later when he was sitting at the table, rubbing his left shoulder. Fawnlock, wondering if it was a human thing, tried it on his own shoulder. It did not seem to do anything really. But John was wincing and grimacing. "Why Jawn? Hurt again?" Fawnlock asked.  
"Leave it be, 'Lock" John muttered grumpily, getting up with great amounts of difficulty and making it to the counter, where he took a paracetamol.  
The white plastic bottle full of pills made a delightful rattling noise that Fawnlock loved, and soon, he forgot all about John's pain. He was too busy shaking the bottle around like a maraca. He jumped and pranced and rattled the noisy pills. Human things were the best. And John seemed to forget about the pain, getting another pill bottle himself and playing along with Fawnlock.  
They played a silly game where Fawnlock had to copy the pattern John shook out with his bottle. It was such fun. 

But Fawnlock only forgot his question temporarily. And this morning, as he sits on the carpet playing with a paperclip, a couple of coins and a piece of thread from one of John's jumpers, is his memory is jogged by John entering the room, leaning on a shiny metal stick. It is making a "click click" noise on the floor, and Fawnlock first thinks it might be another noisy human thing, like the pills. But John's uneven steps and pained huffs make him think otherwise.  
"Jawn?" Fawnlock says tentatively, knowing he is stepping into dangerous territory. Still, he must know what is making John hurt. 

John knew he would have to explain about his limp. He couldn't have hidden it, not when he needed the cane. His knee gave out when he was getting dressed and it took him a difficult five minutes to get up. Even then, his leg felt weak and it throbbed with even slight movements. He was unable to walk without the extra support of his cane. It was the damn weather of course. It was mid-autumn and starting to cool off. Today was cloudy, damp and blustery, the worst weather for his leg. He had called Greg and asked him to come over after to help him out. It was hard for him to manage in the kitchen with the cane. It was only fair to his little companion that he explained why he leaned on the stick. 

"Fawnlock. I need you to come sit on the sofa with me. We need to have a little chat. Is that okay?" John says in even tones.  
The small Fawn gathers his things and puts them on the coffee table and then clambers up beside his John. "Hurt?" He asks, using a very quiet voice.  
"Just a bit, Fawnlock. And I guess it's time I tell you why. You a big fawn now. And you've learned a lot. You can understand things better than before."  
Fawnlock sits silently, not wanting to interrupt John and miss out on getting to hear the long-awaited answer to his question. He fidgets a bit while John takes deep breaths, preparing to tell his difficult story. 

"Humans can be silly. Very silly, Fawnlock. You wouldn't even understand some of the silly things humans do." John begins. Fawnlock knows that he doesn't mean good silly, like tickling or making bubbles in milk. He means bad silly.  
"Humans get mad at each other for silly reasons." John continues.  
"Bad-silly" Fawnlock can't help but inturupt. He wants to show John that he is comprehending everything and that he can tell Fawnlock the whole story. 

He is rewarded with a scratch on the ears and John continues "Yes, very bad silly. Sometimes, people get so mad and they get lots and lots of people involved. And then it turns even more bad-silly."  
Fawnlock isn't sure where this story is going, but he listens attentively, thinking that if he learns what is causing John discomfort, he can make it better. He is a clever Fawn, after all.  
"And sometimes, so many people are involved that they end up making places very dangerous for others to live in. "

Fawnlock knows he has made some bad-silly decisions before, like jumping into the creek in the middle of winter. That hadn't been good. 

"When places become dangerous, other countries send in people who are trained to help in difficult situations. That's what I did. I was trained here and then sent to help people in the bad-silly situation elsewhere."

"En-land" says Fawnlock, remembering what John told him their country was called. 

"Yes, love. We live in England. I went to a country called Afghanistan to help people. But in a place like that, it is easy to be hurt, which is what happened to me."

His John? Hurt by bad guys in a different place? Fawnlock's mind was racing. He would get all the forest creatures together and attack whoever did this. Certainly this other country mustn't be too far away. 

"They hurt me in the shoulder and the leg. It is hard to have proper medicine in places like that. The wounds got germs in them and they made me very sick. I had to stay at the hospital for a long time. Months and months."

"Hop-spittle" Fawnlock mimics quietly. He knows a little about hospitals. John once went to one. He took Fawnlock outside of the cottage and locked the doors.  
"Fawnlock, I'm feeling some pain in my chest and I need to make sure it's okay. I will be back as soon as I can. Go next door so Greg can look after you"  
"Where going?" Fawnlock asked.  
"To the hospital in the city. Please go to Greg's house, ‘Lock. He'll play with you while I'm gone." Another neighbour then took John away into her car and drove off.  
Fawnlock had gone to see Greg, John's neighbour, just like he had been told. He asked Greg what a hospital was. The way Fawnlock understood it, humans who got hurt or sick very badly had to go to a big building to be looked after. Sometimes they would only go for a little bit, like John was hopefully doing, but they might have to sleep there during the nighttime if they needed more looking after. Greg had assured the little fawn that hospitals were good, important places that were meant to help people and that John would be fine very soon. And he was right. John called Greg's phone and told him he was all better and was on his way home. He had been gone only a few hours. Fawnlock can't imagine him being away for months. 

"I came to live here to help me recover. I lived here for a little while before I met you. Having a little fawn to take care of and be silly with helped me feel better. Fawnlock, you helped the pain go away" John says with another scratch on the little fawn's head. 

Fawnlock's ears perk up a bit. He helped John get better! He did! But then why was John hurt again?

"Why still no better?" Fawnlock asks, cocking his head to the side in question. 

John sighs. Suddenly, Fawnlock feels concerned, like maybe he shouldn't have asked this. But John was hurt by bad-silly humans and he got sick and still isn't better. That makes Fawnlock feel unhappy. His eyes fill with tears. John certainly seems healthy most days, other than rubbing at his leg or shoulder sometimes. 

"Upset that Jawn still hurts. I want it go way" Fawnlock still has trouble making his sentences work. He hopes John understands. He sniffles and the tears start falling. 

John wipes Fawnlock's tears with a gentle hand. "Hush, love. It's okay. Humans are different than fawns. You guys are much quicker at healing than we are. I was hurt very badly and sometimes, I found it hard to want to get better. I was tired and lonely.Sometimes all I could think of was the pain and hurt. I found it hard to take care of myself"  
Fawnlock ponders this for a few moments. Greg is always telling John to "take care of yourself, mate.". Perhaps he knew what John was like when he was still unwell. Fawnlock doesn't understand. John takes care of Fawnlock brilliantly. He always has food and water and blankets if he's cold. John always teaches him stuff and takes him out to the lake for swimming. John is wonderful at taking care. 

"I didn't see much point in getting better. But Greg helped, a bit. He made sure I ate and slept and went outside. And it's a good thing I did."  
"Met Fawnlock!!" Shouts the little creature. He was very glad he met John. 

"The reason I still feel a bit hurt sometimes is that being in such a scary place really frightened me. It's hard to forget getting hurt like that. Sometimes bad-silly things remind me of it and it makes my old wounds hurt. This stick is called a cane. I use it sometimes to help me walk when my leg is bothering me. It's not forever. Just because it's cold outside today."  
Fawnlock frowns again. He doesn't like the cane very much, not if John having it means he is hurting and remembering bad-silly stuff. 

John notices Fawnlock's discomfort and starts stroking his ears. "Sometimes, I do feel pain. But we can make it go away. Good-silly things, like the things you and I do, make me feel better."

Fawnlock wants John to feel better right now. So he does the first good-silly thing he can think of. It's something John taught him. He puts his fingers in his mouth and pulls his lips apart, wiggling his tongue about. John starts to giggle. Fawnlock then grabs the coins he was playing with and puts them over his eyes. "Shinyyyyy" he drawls, and he hears John chuckling out loud. John carefully removes the coins from Fawnlock's eyes. Then he takes his arm and slides it into his jumper, so the sleeve is empty and floppy. Fawnlock picks it up and looks inside. Then John takes his cane and puts it in the sleeve. Then he starts pretending it's his arm. It's so funny and Fawnlock is laughing so hard, tears are falling down his face. Both of their laughing is so loud they don't hear Greg ring the doorbell. He comes in on his own, curious as to what the laughter is about. 

Greg still worries about John. He's doing better, much better, these days, especially with an energetic fawn to look after. But he can't help but still feel concerned. Especially if he hears John's disabilities are acting up in him. He manages them quite well, but they make John so angry. He's very independant. And Greg saw firsthand how requiring the assistance of others really shattered the man. John was very depressed, didn't see a point to anything in life. Not until Fawnlock wandered into the garden one afternoon, chasing after a bee. Greg was the one to keep John alive, but it was Fawnlock who gave him a reason to live. He hasn't heard John laugh this much ever. 

He enters the living room to find John with his cane up his sleeve and Fawnlock sitting with his head thrown back, laughing harder than Greg has ever seen.  
"Are you boys being silly again?" Greg asks in pretend-anger.  
"Good silly!" Shouts Fawnlock, snuggling up against John, who has dropped the cane. 

Greg chuckles, thinking about how lucky John is to have found Fawnlock. The little fawn has been paramount in John's healing. Greg knows he will still worry for his friend, but can clearly see he doesn't have to. He finally realizes that John does need someone to care for him. He just needs someone to care for. 

John's leg still aches, his shoulder too, because of the cold, damp weather. But somehow, managing them seem much less daunting to him. He finally realized how important Fawnlock is to him. 

Fawnlock has realized he loves John even more than he did before.

End

**Author's Note:**

> Obviously, the descriptions of war were made for a little fawn to understand and there is a lot more reasons for war and violence than just bad decisions and people being silly, but this is how I imagined John would describe it for Fawnlock to understand without being frightened. That was a really long sentence. Please comment and let me know what was good and what I should have done differently  
> Thank you so much for reading!


End file.
